Busted
by Jellicos
Summary: [on hiatus] A press secretary’s day is never over, and when the President’s middle daughter gets into trouble it’s not even a good neverending day. CJEllie, Femslash.
1. Chapter 1

**Busted**

_My addition to the "Passion and Perfection" Dead of Winter Ficathon._  
Thank you to Teddy for your insane inspirations on late night busrides;)  
Pairing: CJ/Ellie

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"Josh?" Looking up from the paper in her hand, CJ suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway, forcing people to side-step to avoid colliding into her.

"Yeah?" Josh turned as he noticed she wasn't walking beside him anymore and raised his eyebrows slightly.

"I'm quitting." She announced dejectedly before reluctantly starting to walk again, her long strides forcing the deputy chief of staff to jog a few steps to catch up with her.

"It's not that bad." He tried, but as she turned to glare at him he sighed and gave a single nod of his head. "Okay, it is."

"Where does he come off saying things like that?!" She slammed the paper against her leg, furiously increasing the pace of her steps. "Carol!" She bellowed as they reached her office and she noticed her assistant struggling to keep three binders and god knows how many folders and lose papers balanced on her left arm while she tried to open a drawer with her right one.

"Just a sec!" She yelled back in a forced voice.

"Catch you later." Josh hurriedly threw at CJ's back as he caught the eye of his own assistant down the hall. CJ nodded distractedly even though he was already gone before walking into her office, throwing the paper that she'd been reading onto her already over stacked desk. Someone could have painted the top of it puce without her even knowing it.

"Before you sit down-" Carol had poked her head in just in time to see her boss lunge into her desk chair. CJ sighed and buried her head in her arms.

"What?" Came the muffled reply from her arms.

"Toby's office called, he wants you to sit in on his meeting with…" She trailed off as she flipped through her papers. "With Ann Stark." Carol informed her with an apologetic expression. CJ looked up and starred at her assistant.

"Uhm… did he say why?" She asked and Carol shook her head.

"They're waiting in the Roosevelt room." She informed her with a hint of a smile.

"Right." CJ nodded before taking her time getting out of her chair. Two minutes, that was all she was asking for, just two minutes of doing absolutely nothing.

"I hear you're quitting?" Carol asked amusedly over her shoulder as she returned to her office just outside of CJ's. The press secretary sighed as she grabbed a paper from her desk and made her way across the room.

"Don't you start." She muttered as she walked past, turning in the hallway to point her finger at the brunette. "One day I really am quitting." She threatened, but her assistant just waved her off. CJ couldn't help but think that the people in this place just weren't taking her threats seriously anymore.

As if on cue, her cellphone went off and she couldn't help but wonder if the god's of whatever were pissed at her. Maybe Bast had finally caught up with her for that statue thing.

"CJ Cregg." She greeted curtly into the phone, because the called id showed her a number that was completely unknown to her.

The voice on the other end made her stop dead in her tracks, forcing a 20-something intern to do the same and take a few steps to his right as not to jab her in the back with the two brown boxes he was carrying.

"Are you sure?" Phone still to her ear, CJ turned on her heels and quickly made her way back to her office. She couldn't believe this! "I'm on my way." Snapping the phone shut, she strode past Carol who looked up and opened her mouth as if to protest but CJ just held up a hand.

"Call Toby and tell him I have an emergency, I'll be back as soon as I can." She explained while grabbing her coat of the hanger and her car keys of her desk.

"Of course." Carol stood and made her way to the doorway between her own office and CJ's. "What…?" She didn't finish her question, but CJ knew what she was referring too.

"I'm not sure." She sighed as she threw her coat on and rushed past Carol out the door.

She was so quitting… one of these days.

The afternoon traffic in downtown DC was insane and CJ was in a terrible mood when she finally arrived. She'd been stuck behind some hundred and fifty year old driver who seemed to have decided on making his way through the city in first gear.

The only good moment she'd had today was when she in sheer frustration searched through her over cluttered glove department and found a forgotten Hershey bar. Chocolate never failed to raise her spirits a little, and anything that could make her less grouchy was welcome right now.

Thankfully most people seemed to be on the road and not out shopping and she could easily find a parking space just outside the little clothing store. Thank heavens for small miracles.

Grabbing her purse and shoving the empty candy wrapper into her coat pocket, CJ made her way from her car and up to the little wooden door with the name of the store printed in large black metal letters overhead. One of the letters seemed to have loosened a little and was hanging crookedly, but it was the sharp sound of an old fashion brass bell ringing as she opened the door that caught CJ's attention.

There had to have been some sort of misunderstanding as to why she was here. This store was certainly not her style, and she was sure the President's daughter had never stepped foot in the place in her life.

Looking around, she found a surprisingly wide range of styles hanging from unbalanced racks and shelves all around the obscenely pink walls. CJ was amazed at how such a small place could pull off selling flannel shirts next to sheer satin nighties and she wondered who in their right mind would put maroon pumps next to high-end rubber clad hiking boots.

This just wasn't right.

She was about to turn and leave as she heard an oddly serene voice from behind her.

"Are you looking for something in particular dear?" Turning around, CJ found herself standing two feet away from a very small, grey-haired lady, wearing the kind of thick glasses she'd only seen in bad comedies before. The woman looked oddly youthful for her grey hair, glasses and large multi-layered outfit and CJ had a hard time trying to pinpoint her age. She settled for something around 60.

Feeling like a giant next to the tiny five foot woman, CJ slouched her shoulders a bit out of habit more than anything else.

"My name is CJ Cregg; I was called down here on account of Ellie Bartlet?" She couldn't read the answer in the other woman's face, the sweet seemingly ever-present smile gave nothing away and CJ was starting to feel remarkably uncomfortable.

"Yes, of course." The woman looked almost happy to see her, and the press secretary was starting to think she'd crossed some sort of dimension border as she walked in through the peeling green wooden door. "Come, come, young Miss Bartlet is in the back." She explained and all but shoved CJ in front of her through the dimly lit and overly stocked room.

"Oh, where are my manners." The woman chuckled and made a gesture out of slapping her palm to her own forehead as she continued to usher the now quite reluctant and nervous CJ behind the register towards a thick dark red curtain. "I'm Marla." She introduced herself as she pulled the thick curtain out of the way to reveal an even less lit room with a faint scent of old cloth.

"Don't just stand there child, come on in." Marla told her briskly, but CJ was not about to move further in this room without some sort of confirmation there wasn't a lunatic with a baseball bat waiting for her on the other side of that curtain.

"Ellie dear, you friend is here." She heard Marla call out into the semi-lit room, and CJ half expected the woman to answer her own question in a slightly higher pitched voice. There was something very Norman Bates-esque about this whole situation.

"CJ?" She actually jumped as she recognised Ellie's voice from the other side of the velvety material and she could have sworn Marla gave her a knowing grin before she walked off towards the shelves of pastel coloured shirts. Maybe the old lady wasn't all that crazy after all.

"Ellie? What's going on?" Finally taking a step inside the room, CJ saw the middle Bartlet daughter sitting on a stack of boxes, a china cup filled with what looked like tea was standing on a slightly higher stack.

"I'm sorry about this; I just didn't want to call mom or dad." Ellie didn't look at her, but wrapped her arms around her waist and lowered her head so all CJ could see was her soft blonde curls.

"No, you did the right thing by calling me." CJ acknowledged, still not sure she was here for the reason she thought before she left. "The man on the phone…" She wasn't sure how to ask, if she was mistaken it would be disastrous.

"Marla's son-in-law." Ellie confirmed, still not looking up from the floor. "He wanted to call the police, but Marla told him not to." CJ sighed in relief before moving to stand in front of Ellie, stepping over a few boxes and some green fabric she thought could be scarves, as she went.

"So what he said, I mean…" She paused and took a deep breath, it was now or never. "He caught you shoplifting?" Her question was cautious, but by the lack of response from the young woman who seemed to have grown even smaller on top of the boxes, CJ got her answer.

"Ellie, are you... Jesus, what's gotten into you?!" This was just what she needed right now, a press scandal involving the President's daughter being caught stealing. Her reporters would have a field day with this, especially after the MS story and the assassination of Shareef.

For the first time since she'd stepped into the room, Ellie looked up at her and CJ would see she'd been crying.

"I messed up." She whispered.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." CJ snorted and looked away to her side. This was just great.

"I didn't ask for this!" Her head snapped back and she saw Ellie was standing, her reddened eyes flaming in anger. It was something CJ had never seen before, the middle Bartlet had always been the shy and quiet one, the one who didn't get into trouble. "Do you have any idea what my life has been like?!" Ellie was furious, and CJ was so shocked she couldn't think of a single thing to reply.

"Four years in the White House, eight years of Governor, twelve years in congress, a Nobel prize on the mantelpiece. I can't even remember what 'normal' is anymore!" She was ranting, her voice high pitched as she paced the room, anger steaming from her as smoke from a burning building. "Everything I do gets publicised, so I've lived my life making sure I never do anything to embarrass my family. I barley have any friends because they can't handle the scrutiny from the press, and I don't date because when I do the tabloids offer them boatloads of cash to tell the world what kind of kisser I am!" As she finally turned to face CJ, she'd calmed down a bit, but her face was still red from the intensity in her speech and the press secretary was trying to get a hold of the situation as well as her ability for constructive speech.

"And for the record, I'm a great kisser." Ellie added, much more quietly than the rest of her words.

"I bet." CJ replied with a smirk before even realising what she'd just said. The impact of her words didn't register until she saw the odd look on Ellie's face.

"I mean… No, I just…" She stuttered, wondering why the hell she felt so dumb around the 26 year old. But considering it was a very odd day, she decided to chuck it up to her entrance into the twilight zone that was Marla's store. "I'm sure you are." CJ tried to rectify the situation, only to realise she'd made an even bigger mess.

"CJ…" There was something about the way Ellie was looking at her, about the slightly different tone in her voice as she spoke her name.

"Ellie, I didn't, I mean…" Her confused efforts of apology were cut short as Eleanor took two steps forward and pulled CJ's head down by her shirt, crushing their lips together.

This wasn't happening. Not able to quite grasp what was happening, CJ just stood there, arms limp at her sides, head bowed down awkwardly with unmoving lips.

She could feel the soft texture of Ellie's lips on hers, the heat of her body as it pressed against her own. She knew what was happening, yet her body couldn't quite grasp the appropriate reactions. Before her mind had time to force her body into action, Ellie had pulled away, her face flushed with embarrassment from what had just transpired, refusing to meet the older woman's eyes.

"I'm sorry." She whispered before turning away, but CJ finally reacted to her screaming mind and grabbed a hold of the younger woman's arm before she could leave.

"Ellie…" She spoke her name; it was the only word she could really think of to say. Anything else just seemed cliché and fake. "I don't…" She trailed off as Ellie turned towards her, still not looking her in the eye.

"Yeah…" Plastering a fake smile on her face, Ellie grabbed her purse and coat from the improvised box-chair she'd been sitting on when CJ arrived. "Look, I should have known better, I'm sorry, just forget it, okay?" Her voice was hollow, but her forced chuckle was the thing that broke CJ's heart. "Marla promised not to press charges as long as someone from Dad's office came to get me. So, you know, it won't be a problem for you." She was getting ready to leave, looking anywhere else but at the woman desperately fighting for the right words to say to her.

"Look, maybe if we just talk… I'm sorry, I just don't…" She didn't finish any of her thoughts, there didn't seem to be anything in her mind that wasn't patronising or useless.

"Just forget it, ok?" It was the forced plea of someone holding tears at bay while clinging to the remains of their self-respect. "I'll see you back there." She said in a strained voice before pulling the curtain back and disappearing on the other side of it.

CJ just nodded her head in response at where Ellie had just stood. Sighing deeply, she slid down to sit on the closest box, needing to get her thoughts in check before she talked to Marla again.

Ellie Bartlet had just kissed her, and CJ wasn't sure if she's just bruised the girl's ego or battered her heart. Either way it was bad, so very, very bad.

For the time being, her thoughts had left the potential media circus of the shoplifting daughter of the President. If CJ was so transparent, even to Eleanor, then the next big media circus would probably be about the gay press secretary.

Right now there was only one thing in her mind, and it had nothing to do with the press. She needed to fix this, but for the life of her she just couldn't figure out a way that wouldn't involve deception.

She just couldn't understand it, she'd never thought of Ellie like this before. She'd just always been her boss's daughter, the hard working student, the sister she never had to worry about.

Eleanor Bartlet had just kissed her, and the thing that scared CJ the most was that she hadn't found the experience all that unpleasant. At all.

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_Thank you for reading. Feedback is very much appreciated:)_

_Jellicos_


	2. The Talk

**The Talk**

_For WickedColdfire05, Sapho's Daughter, clarkson04 and snowbear96 for your kind words and the smile they brought to my face. I was planning on making this a one-shot, but… Oh hell, I'm weak.  
Ellie needed a chapter in her pov too;) I hope you like it._

_Love,  
Jellicos_

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She arrived at the residence half an hour later, determined not to cry, to pretend she hadn't just gotten her heart ripped from her chest and her ego stomped upon by a six foot goddess in heels.

Two minutes she waited, pacing the floor of the bedroom that was assigned to her, a dark room with heavy drapes and a line of framed photographs of the family to make it more personal, only the pictures had been framed and displayed by someone else. Two minutes she held on before flipping open her cellphone and hitting speed dial.

After three signals, the familiar voice on the other end made her exhale in relief.

"Hey tiny." She said, smiling into the receiver as she sat down in the pattern clad chair that seemed like a good idea at a time when comfort was not in fashion. A well known rustle of cloth and wind made her guess that the woman on the other end was on break, most likely walking between campus buildings.

"What's up stranger? I haven't heard from you in two days." Their tone was light and teasing, putting Ellie in a state of relaxation she'd been missing for the last few hours.

"I messed up Zoe." She confessed with a sigh. The Bartlet girls had always been close; with absent parents they had always relied on each other for comfort and advice. It had always gone in ascending order of age, Ellie had talked to Liz, Zoey had talked to Ellie, but the past couple of years, Ellie had confided more and more in her little sister. After all, it wasn't an easy task to try and convince your older sibling that your love life was important when her daughter had just decided that Christmas was a commercial institution and she wanted nothing to do with it. So as Liz dove into motherhood, Zoey and Ellie exchanged dating-stories and advice.

"Hold on." She could hear Zoey move and then the sound of a door closing on the other end. "Shoot." She ordered, and with a deep breath, Ellie started re-telling the events of this afternoon. Zoey let her ramble on, a quiet 'mhm' or other appropriate reaction was heard every time Ellie stopped for air.

"… I kissed her Zoe! God!" She stood up, not so much because of the uncomfortable chair that had managed to make her left butt cheek fall asleep, but because of the restlessness of humiliation. "I'm such an idiot." She snarled at herself, trying to ignore the sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone.

"Oh my god. Ellie!" Christ Zoey, this really wasn't the time for squealing, she thought to herself, but didn't say it. It wouldn't matter, her little sister would go on for a few minutes before coming to her senses and realise what an utter mess Ellie had made of the situation.

"You kissed CJ?" She had to bite her lip not to grin at the awed tone in Zoey's voice.

"This so isn't a good thing Zoe!" She tried to scold, but her slight chuckle at her sister's reaction diminished her sincerity.

"Are you kidding? It's about damn time!"

"What?" College life must be doing funny things to the youngest Bartlet…

"Common! You've been pining over her forever." She was glad Zoey couldn't see her blush.

"You knew?" Awkward was far from describing Ellie's state of mind right now. Complete embarrassment was more like it. How obvious had she been? Well, seems like she took the press secretary by surprise anyway, Ellie thought dryly.

"Was it a secret?" She could tell Zoey was holding her giggles back and she was grateful for it, but the teasing wasn't helping right now.

"Oh god…" She slumped down on her bed, her back moving up and down slightly from the much too tightly wound springs in the mattress.

"So, how was it?" Any other time, she would have smiled at how her sister was fishing for details about her so-called love life, but this time it just stung her heart. So she just sighed.

"That bad?" The sympathetic tone of her voice, forced Ellie to fight back the tears.

"I think I shocked her." She confessed, deciding that her only way to get some perspective on her situation was to confide in the only person she trusted. "She just stood there."

"Just stood there? CJ?" The incredulousness in her voice was almost comical.

"Yupp."

"Wait…" She could hear Zoey sit up as if by changing positions it would help her get a better grasp on things. "She just stood there as you kissed her? CJ? CJ Cregg? Dad's press secretary CJ Cregg?" This time Ellie gave a huff at the comedy.

"Yeah, that's the one." She was allowed some sarcasm in this conversation.

"But, I, what happened? I mean, after the kiss, what did she say?" Ellie could almost hear the wheels turn in Zoey's mind.

"I don't know, she never finished a sentence." She sighed again.

"Ok, we are talking about the same person right?"

"Yeah, CJ Cregg, the tall woman on C-SPAN." With the killer legs. Only she didn't say the last part out loud.

"Ok, just checking. Go on."

"She said she was sorry, that we should talk about it. Damn it, why can't I just keep my mouth to myself!" She couldn't help but smile slightly at Zoey's infectious chuckle. "I don't know, I apologised and told her to forget it ever happened."

"Why did you do that?!" Zoey almost yelled at her.

"Because I don't want her to come check on me, making sure that my fragile little ego isn't hurt, explain to me that she's just not like that and she's sorry for getting my hopes up." She closed her eyes, forcing back the tears that felt it was their time to surface as her mind played much too vivid images of CJ's patronising face as she told Ellie that someday she'd find that special girl.

"Yeah, she would do that, wouldn't she?" Zoey sighed on the other end.

"How do you do it Zoe?" She asked her voice now slightly tinted by the fight against her tear canal.

"How do I do what?"

"See him." She didn't have to say anything else. They'd had so many talks about Charlie Young that she knew that Zoey could read it in her voice by now when she was referring to him.

"I start dating idiot French royalty." She sneered. "It's hard, I don't know if it ever will be different."

"Yeah."

"I'm really sorry Ellie." The sincerity in her voice was too much for Ellie.

"Thanks." She offered quietly.

"Elle?" Her tentative voice warned Ellie that the question to come was a hard one.

"Yeah?" She squeezed her eyes shut even tighter, bracing herself for whatever it was that Zoey was going to ask her.

"Do you, I mean, this is real, isn't it?" Damn her for knowing her so well.

"Yeah." She confessed, not daring to speak the words out loud. "I've got to…" She trailed off, but Zoey took the hint.

"Call me later, okay?" She asked, and Ellie nodded against her phone.

"I will." She managed to utter.

"Love you." She could feel Zoey reaching out to her.

"Love you too sis." She whispered before snapping her phone shut.

She stayed laying down on the bed a little while longer, throwing the phone over her head and clasping her hands over her face. Just a few moments to calm down, deep breaths, there you go, no tears.

She was not going to cry over CJ, there was no way. And Zoey was right; it was going to be tough. She'd just have to avoid visiting her parents, and when she did, stay the hell away from the West Wing. This wasn't really love, just some twisted celebrity-crush or something.

"Damn it." She breathed. The knock on her door couldn't have come at a worse time. But then, her mom wasn't famous for her excellent timing either. Knowing the good Dr Abigail Bartlet would see right through her if given the chance, Ellie stood up and wiped her face quickly. She wasn't in a mood to tell her mother she had a crush on a member of daddy's staff.

"Come in." She called as she turned to her dresser. She might as well get her four pieces of clothing packed back down; she couldn't wait to get back to John Hopkins. Sure she'd taken the week off, but there was no way she was going to stay now. Work would do her good, and she was sure her parents would understand her desire to return to her research. As the door swung open she wondered if her mother already knew something was wrong, it was the only reason she could think of as to why the door opened so hesitantly.

"I'm sorry mom, I know I said I'd be staying the week, but I really need to get back, there was this thing in…" She spoke as casually as she could as she grabbed her shirt from the second drawer and turned to place it in her suitcase. But both her limbs and speech came to an abrupt halt as she looked towards the doorway.

"I'm sorry; Charlie told me you were in here…" She'd never seen the press secretary look so uncomfortable. She had one arm wrapped so tightly around her it almost looked like her stomach hurt, all her weight rested on her left foot while her eyes darted around the room. It was a far cry from the confidant woman she was so used to seeing protecting her territory in the White House.

"I'm packing." She wondered how one woman could make her sound this dumb, but as CJ caught her eye and Ellie's knees turned wobbly, she knew the answer to her own question.

"You're leaving? I thought you were staying the rest of the week." CJ straightened up, regaining some of her characteristic self-confidence.

"Something came up." Way to work the short answers Ellie.

"Me." Ok, so CJ was better with the short replies. Fuck, since when was she so direct?

"Can we not do this?" She couldn't face the thought of getting the talk from CJ, not now, not ever. Wasn't it enough that she knew it would never happen? It wasn't like she'd ever bother the woman again, not after how she made a fool of herself earlier today.

"What am I doing?" She looked genuinely confused and Ellie made a decision. If CJ could be direct, so could she. It was the only way to get this over with.

"Look, CJ…" She took a deep breath, ignoring how nice it felt to say her name like that or how good it felt to have her to herself here in her bedroom. Brushing all those dangerous thoughts aside, she placed the properly folded shirt on her nightstand and sat down on the edge of her bed. "It's ok, I get it, I don't need a speech."

"Ellie, I don't…" She started, but trailed off as Ellie decided it was too confined to be sitting during this conversation and stood up.

"You're not gay, I should have realised. Don't worry about it. Mom and dad don't know and I won't put you in the position to spin the fact that the President's daughter is gay." She rambled on as she paced back and forth between her bed and her dresser, not realising she'd packed some old clothes that she didn't even fit into anymore. "I'm fine, really. Don't worry about it."

"Ok." She was glad she was standing by the dresser because her back was towards CJ as the woman spoke. She couldn't believe how badly a single word from this woman's mouth could affect her. Damn her. "Can I say something?" She asked and Ellie had to swallow hard before she could reply.

"Of course." She said, back still turned towards the other woman. She almost cringed at how much she sounded like her mother when her dad had hurt her.

"I'm not here to give you 'the talk,' I'm not sure why I'm here, but that's not why." CJ's voice was moving closer and Ellie grabbed a hold of the top of the dresser for support. "You really think I care about how to spin that the President's middle daughter's gay? I'm worried your father will rip my head off if I even mention your name in the press room, but that isn't the point." Her soft chuckle sent involuntary warmth spreading across Ellie's skin. "Hell, my own sexuality would only be news until the press core got fed again, and you they like."

Before she realised what she'd done, Ellie had turned to face the press secretary, only to pull back slightly as she realised how close CJ really was.

"You're… gay?" God, could she have sounded any more pre-pubescent?

"Wasn't that why you kissed me?" The mention of the kiss from her lips made Ellie shiver visibly. CJ looked surprised, as if she thought Ellie already knew.

"No." She couldn't think of anything else to say. It was all so surreal, so confusing.

"I don't know what to do about this." CJ revealed, bowing her head down slightly before moving a step back and sitting down on Ellie's bedspread.

"CJ, you don't have to do anything, just…" She didn't know how to finish the sentence. She'd never seen the press secretary like this, so honest and vulnerable, and she felt a strange sense of pride for having witnessed it.

"Don't leave." The request took her so completely off guard she didn't know how to respond. "Just… you were going to stay the week, right?" Ellie nodded, momentarily forgetting how to make use of her vocal chords. "Don't leave yet, stay the week. Please?" It was the pleading note in the last words that took away all choice Ellie had in the matter and she nodded her head.

"Okay, good." She looked uncomfortable again, like someone just told her they'd hang a fifty pound bag of pressure around her neck now if she didn't mind. "Great." She nodded her head once and stood up, avoiding all eye contact with Ellie. "I should…" She pointed to the door and Ellie just nodded again. She tried to open her mouth once, but her vocal chords seemed to have eloped.

She watched as CJ made her way to the door, hoping against all hope that she'd turn, say something, do something, anything.

But as she reached the door and turned down the handle, Ellie found her legs to be working well enough to help her turn away. She just didn't want to see her leave, no matter how stupid it sounded.

"I'll…" Her head turned on its own accord as she heard CJ's voice from the doorway. "See you tomorrow, I guess."

"Yeah…" Her voice was barely audible and she forced her head back to hide those tears that refused to be pushed back any longer.

There was some hesitation from the doorway before the heavy wooden door closed and Ellie's hand ploughed knuckles first into the hard mahogany of her drawer.

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_Thank you for reading:) _


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